Analysis Of The West Unique, Not Universal

Analysing The West Unique, Not Universal

Throughout history, Western civilization has been an emerging force behind change in foreign societies. This is the concept that is discussed in the article the West Unique, Not Universal, written by Samuel Huntington. The author makes a very clear thesis sentence and uses a variety of evidence to support it. This article has a strong very convincing point. The thoughts expressed in this article can be related to a lot of events throughout history.

The thesis of this article is that Western culture in itself is a unique and diverse culture, but it is not nor will it ever be the culture of the rest of the world. Two theories are introduced, the Coca-colonization theory and the modernization theory.

However the Coca-colonization theory is disreputation as the true meaning of culture is revolved around religion, language, societal customs, and moral values. The next theory is the modernization theory, this is the basis for the rest of the essay. The modernization theory is that since the West lead the push to modernization, many components of Western culture is embedded in modern society.

“ As the first civilization to modernize, the West is the first to have fully acquired the culture of modernity.”

This theory also heavily relies on the idea that in order to modernize, the country must Westernize and lose their traditional culture. It is then proposed that although in present day many societies are modern, its does not mean they are all the same.

“Modern societies have much in common, but they do not necessarily merge into homogeneity”

There are many different ways that this article can be perceived. In my opinion, the argument is very convincing that Western culture is not the culture of the world. There are many cultures around the world that are highly functioning with Western influence and the author does an excellent job of incorporating examples of these societies into his argument. Countries such as Japan are experiencing what Huntington describes as cultural

Many societies who viewed Western culture as parasitic were forced to adapt to Western culture for survival. For China, the Americans made the Chinese dependant on them for supplying Opium. When the Chinese fought against the sale of Opium, the America 's superior military defeated them and forced them into an unfair treaty. This created a Western presence in China, pushing Western laws, values, religion, and language on the Chinese. The embarrassing defeat of China directly influenced Japan to voluntarily accept Western culture. Both Japan and China adopted bits and piece from Western culture and adapted it to their traditional culture rather than becoming Westernized. The Boxer Rebellion is proof to China’s refusal to accept Western culture in particular for of Christianity. The slaughtering of practicing Christians, both Chinese and Western, is a very distinct rejection of Western